1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for accessing data which is present in object-oriented form as object models with a tree structure in network elements in a communications network, and the data traffic relating to network administration is at least partially carried out using an object-oriented protocol in the network.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Communications networks generally include not only the actual subscriber network for network channel connections, but also a signaling network and a management network. One system which is considered, by way of example, in the context of the present invention is the xe2x80x9cIntegrated Service Digital Networkxe2x80x9d, referred to as ISDN for short in the following text; another being the broadband ISDN based on the ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) transmission technique. For maintenance and operational tasks, for example editing of data in switching centers, setting up or modifying new service features and routine maintenance, the Telecommunications Management Network, TMN for short, is provided in the ISDN system and is documented in CCITT Recommendation M.30, Geneva: ITU 1989. In this case, network elements, for example switching centers, are accessed and administered via object-oriented interfaces, in particular via the so-called Q3 interfaces and a corresponding protocol, as defined in the ITU Standards Series X.7xx (Geneva, CCITT).
Operating systems (=OS) are likewise connected via Q3 interfaces to the management network, such as network elements, in this case especially switching centers. The operating systems generally have workstations on which an operator can carry out the necessary inputs and checks with the assistance of an operator terminal; that is, they can be connected to a coordination processor via a Q3 platform in the network element.
The central component in the coordination processor of a network element, in this case in its Q3 platform, is a function, for example the Log Control Function, defined in CCITT Recommendation X.735 (ITU 1993), for buffer storage of network element data, such as charge data, statistical data etc. Such data, which is often very extensive, is then intended to be transferred to the operating system, in order then to be used there; for example, for charge calculation. In the method used for data access, an operating system sends a request via the Q3 interface, an M-GET request in the Q3 protocol, to the network element, where each individual data record of the subobjects of an object is sent with its own message (M-GET response in the Q3 protocol), to be precise with a corresponding overhead in the Q3 protocol. Since, as already mentioned, the data stored in the Log Control Function may be very extensive, for example several hundred megabytes, data traffic in the described manner is highly time-intensive.
In the context of an interconnection between a CMIP network (CMIP=Common Management Information Protocol) and various types of repositories which include database systems, a method is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,247 which allows a log agent, which translates CMIP commands into standardized functions for an application-specific interface, to communicate with all types of repositories via a Log Access Library. In this case, a standard access interface to the various repositories is proposed, but this solution proposal does not solve the problem described above.
An object of the present invention is therefore, is to make the access and transmission of data more economic and quicker.
This object is achieved by a method wherein, when an access request for an object by an operating system arrives, the data of a predetermined subset of subobjects is written to a file and is then sent in combined form to the operating system.
Thanks to the present invention, the data of the subobjects can be transmitted considerably more quickly, particularly if a large number of subobjects each having a relatively small amount of user data are present, since, in the end, only the relatively minor overhead for the protocol for file transfer is incurred de facto for the data of all the subobjects covered, without in any way incurring the Q3 protocol overhead.
The method according to the present invention is particularly flexible if the subset of subobjects is stated in the access request.
On the other hand, it is frequently sufficient and simpler to write all the subobjects of an object to a file when an access request arrives.
The present invention can be used particularly advantageously when the network administration uses the Q3 protocol. In this case, it may simplify the administration process if the access request is made in the context of the Q3 protocol via an M-ACTION command, but the combined data is transferred using an FTP protocol.
However, it is possible and, in many cases, simpler if the access request and the transmission of the combined data take place using the xe2x80x9cFTPxe2x80x9d protocol.
In order to achieve as great a reduction as possible in the data to be transmitted, it is recommended that only the user data of the subobjects be written to a file.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention are described in, and will be apparent from, the following invention and the Figures.